The present invention relates to a scanning type image pick-up apparatus and a scanning type laser beam receive apparatus suitable for passively or actively scanning a wide view-field by a two-dimensional manner.
In general, in this kind of scanning type image pick-up apparatus, an image pick-up camera internally including an image pick-up element of a charge storing type is used to obtain a light wave. In this image pick-up camera, the image pick-up element has a view angle xcex8 and therefore, a method of scanning a search range to take in a view image is adopted in case of searching a wide view.
In the image pick-up camera as described above, the image pick-up element is provided at a focus position of an optical system, and image data is obtained by taking in light waves of a visible region (e.g., 0.4 xcexcm to 0.8 xcexcm) and an infrared region (e.g., 3 xcexcm to 12 xcexcm) received by the optical system and performing photoelectric conversion thereon. Therefore, if an angle range equivalent to an instant view angle of one pixel of the image pick-up element is scanned in one direction at a speed faster than the speed at which the image pick-up element is exposed, a so-called image flow is caused and the view image obtained thereby becomes unclear.
Therefore, a conventional scanning type image pick-up apparatus adopts a reflection mirror step scanning method in which a reflection mirror is provided before an image pick-up camera and the reflection mirror is scanned in steps for every unit angle equivalent to a view angle in synchronism with the frame time of the image pick-up element, thereby to pick up light waves into an image pick-up element within one frame time (or exposure time) and to obtain a view image, or a camera step scanning method in which an image pick-up camera directly performs scanning in steps, thereby to pick up light waves into an image pick-up element within one frame time (or exposure time) and to obtain a view image.
However, if the scanning type image pick-up apparatus as described above is constructed so as to have a wide view range, a large reflection mirror is required from the limitations of the focal distance and the image pick-up distance, in case of the former method, and an optical system such as a converging lens must be a large size, in case of the latter method. Thus, in both cases, the apparatus has a very heavy weight. Therefore, in any of these methods, a large driving force is required for step scanning, and a time delay occurs when scanning is started, so that it is difficult to obtain stable view images.
For example, since a reflection mirror or an image pick-up camera has a large size and a heavy weight, it is very difficult to perform step scanning with a high speed of about an image pick-up element frame frequency 60 Hz and a frame cycle 16.7 ms, and therefore, a problem occurs in that a clear image is difficult to obtain. The same problem occurs in case of a scanning type laser beam receive apparatus.
As has been explained above, a conventional scanning type image pick-up apparatus has a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a clear view image when search over a wide view is realized.
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and has an object of providing a scanning type image pick-up apparatus and a laser beam receive apparatus which obtain a clear view image over a wide view to realize highly reliable search with high precision.
A scanning type image pick-up apparatus comprising: an image pick-up camera for converging a light wave by a first optical system, changing an optical path of the light wave by a second optical system, and taking in the light wave into a charge storage type image pick-up element, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning on the image pick-up element with the light wave from the first optical system; camera scanning means for causing the image pick-up camera to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the light wave into the first optical system; and first optical system scanning means for causing the second optical system of the image pick-up camera to perform triangular scanning in a direction opposite to a scanning direction of the image pick-up camera for every frame cycle of the image pick-up camera, thereby to introduce the light wave converged by the first optical system into the image pick-up element.
A scanning type image pick-up apparatus comprising: an image pick-up camera for converging a light wave by a first optical system, changing an optical path of the light wave by a second optical system, and taking in the light wave into a charge storage type image pick-up element, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning so as to correspond to the first optical system and the image pick-up element; camera scanning means for causing the image pick-up camera to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the light wave into the first optical system; and a rotation mechanism for rotating the second optical system of the image pick-up camera around an optical axis by an angle decided by scanning angle speeds in two axial directions of the two-dimensional scanning means and around an axis parallel to an incidence surface of the image pick-up element at an angle speed decided by scanning angle speeds in the two axial directions of the two-dimensional scanning means.
In addition, a scanning type laser beam receive apparatus comprising: a laser radar for converging a laser beam by a first optical system, for changing an optical path of the laser beam by a second optical system, and for taking in the laser beam into a laser beam receiver, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning so as to correspond to the first optical system and the laser beam receiver; and two-dimensional scanning means for causing the laser radar to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the laser beam into the first optical system, characterized in that the second optical system of the laser radar includes a mechanism which rotates the second optical system around an optical axis by an angle decided by scanning angle speed in two axial directions of the two-dimensional scanning means and around an axis parallel to a light receive surface of the laser beam receiver at an angle speed decided by scanning angle speeds in the two axial directions of the two-dimensional scanning means.
Another a scanning type image pick-up apparatus characterized by comprising: an image pick-up camera for converging a light wave by a first optical system, for changing an optical path of the light wave by a second optical system, and for taking in the light wave into a charge storage type image pick-up element, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning with use of an electro-optical deflector capable of electrically deflecting the light wave so as to correspond to the first optical system and the image pick-up element; scanning means for causing the image pick-up camera to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the light wave into the first optical system; and deflector drive means for causing the electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis at an angle decided by a scanning angle speed of the scanning means.
Or, another a scanning type image pick-up apparatus characterized by comprising: an image pick-up camera for converging a light wave by a first optical system, for changing an optical path of the light wave by a second optical system, and for taking in the light wave into a charge storage type image pick-up element, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning in a two-dimensional direction with use of first and second electro-optical deflectors respectively capable of electrically deflecting the light wave in directions perpendicular to each other so as to correspond to the first optical system and the image pick-up element; two-dimensional scanning means for causing the image pick-up camera to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the light wave into the first optical system; first deflector drive means for causing the first electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis at an angle decided by a scanning angle speed of the two-dimensional scanning means in a first axial direction thereof; and second deflector drive means for causing the second electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis at an angle decided by a scanning angle speed of the two-dimensional scanning means in a second axial direction thereof perpendicular to the first axial direction.
Or, another a scanning type image pick-up apparatus characterized by comprising: an image pick-up camera for converging a light wave by a first optical system, for changing an optical path of the light wave by a second optical system, and for taking in the light wave into a charge storage type image pick-up element, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning in a two-dimensional direction with use of an electro-optical deflector capable of electrically deflecting the light wave so as to correspond to the first optical system and the image pick-up element and with use of a rotation mechanism for rotating the electro-optical deflector around an optical axis; two-dimensional scanning means for causing the image pick-up camera to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the light wave into the first optical system; and deflector drive means for rotating the electro-optical deflector around an optical axis by an angle decided by scanning angle speeds of the two-dimensional scanning means in two axial directions thereof, with respect to the rotation mechanism of the image pick-up camera, and for causing the electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis around an axis parallel to a surface of the image pick-up element at an angle speed decided by the scanning angle speeds of the two-dimensional scanning means in the two axial directions thereof.
Another a scanning type laser beam receive apparatus characterized by comprising: a laser radar for converging a laser beam by a first optical system, for changing an optical path of the laser beam by a second optical system, and for taking in the laser beam into a laser beam receiver, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning with use of an electro-optical deflector capable of electrically deflecting the laser beam so as to correspond to the first optical system and the laser beam receiver; scanning means for causing the laser radar to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the laser beam into the first optical system; and deflector drive means for causing the electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis at an angle decided by a scanning angle speed of the scanning means.
Or, another a scanning type laser beam receive apparatus characterized by comprising: a laser radar for converging a laser beam by a first optical system, for changing an optical path of the laser beam by a second optical system, and for taking in the laser beam into a laser beam receiver, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning in a two-dimensional direction with use of first and second electro-optical deflectors respectively capable of electrically deflecting the laser beam in directions perpendicular to each other so as to correspond to the first optical system and the laser beam receiver;
two-dimensional scanning means for causing the laser radar to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the laser beam into the first optical system; first deflector drive means for causing the first electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis at an angle decided by a scanning angle speed of the two-dimensional scanning means in a first axial direction thereof; and second deflector drive means for causing the second electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis at an angle decided by a scanning angle speed of the two-dimensional scanning means in a second: axial direction thereof perpendicular to the first axial direction.
Or another a scanning type laser beam receive apparatus characterized by comprising: a laser radar for converging a light wave by a first optical system, for changing an optical path of the laser beam by a second optical system, and for taking in the laser beam into a laser beam receiver, thereby to obtain a view image, the second optical system being arranged to be capable of freely performing scanning in a two-dimensional direction with use of an electro-optical deflector capable of electrically deflecting the laser beam so as to correspond to the first optical system and the laser beam receiver and with use of a rotation mechanism for rotating the electro-optical deflector around an optical axis; two-dimensional scanning means for causing the laser radar to linearly scan a view range, thereby to take in the laser beam into the first optical system; and deflector drive means for rotating the electro-optical deflector around an optical axis by an angle decided by scanning angle speeds of the two-dimensional scanning means in two axial directions thereof, with respect to the rotation mechanism of the laser radar, and for causing the electro-optical deflector to deflect an optical axis around an axis parallel to a surface of the laser radar at an angle speed decided by the scanning angle speeds of the two-dimensional scanning means in the two axial directions thereof.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.